Amy C Walters

Jesus Prays on the Mount of Olives | Luke 22:39-51 

The scene of Jesus’ betrayal is chaotic–a mob coming with clubs and torches. Disciples blindly swinging swords. Judas betraying Jesus with a kiss. Everything seems out of control. But even when evil is at its strongest, God is still in control.

Imagine that you are one of the disciples in this scene. It’s late, you’ve had a long day celebrating the Passover. Jesus has said some strange and frightening things during the meal.

You’ve gone back to your campsite on the Mount of Olives, feeling sad and exhausted. You just want to go to bed. But Jesus tells you to pray. So maybe you try it for a little bit, but eventually you fall asleep. 

Suddenly Jesus wakes you up, repeating his instructions to get up and pray. But while he’s saying this, you see light from approaching torches.

Suddenly a large crowd is there and they don’t look happy. Judas is leading them. He’s one of the 12 disciples, one of you.

But as you look at the crowd with him, you realize that you’ve seen them before. They’re the chief priests, officers of the temple guard, the elders. What was Judas doing with them?

You notice the crowd is armed with swords and clubs. Judas approaches Jesus and you hear Jesus say something to him about betrayal. Slowly it dawns on you this is the betrayal that Jesus had talked about at dinner.

They’re here to arrest Jesus. You have to stop them! 

The disciple standing next to you asks Jesus if we should fight back. Another disciple, Peter, pulls out his sword, swinging it wildly and cuts off someone’s ear. It’s absolute chaos. The situation is out of control.

Or is it? If we were to freeze the scene at this moment, it certainly would seem rather hopeless. You have Judas who has now revealed himself to be in league with the enemy. His chosen signal for this betrayal is a kiss, a deep sign of intimacy and trust that he is absolutely and viciously breaking as he hands Jesus over to be arrested. 

Jesus calls him out on it. “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” Jesus is not going to leave the ugliness of what Judas is doing without a comment. 

As one of the twelve disciples, Judas has had every opportunity to be transformed by his time with Jesus. He saw countless miracles firsthand. He heard Jesus’ teaching and even received those explanations on things that Jesus shared just with his disciples. Judas benefited from Jesus’ miracles, and yet he still turns his back on him. 

Betrayal is a special kind of wound, a unique kind of pain. When people you had felt safe around turn out to be dangerous. When people that you’ve helped when they needed it then refuse to help you when you need it. When you start to question the truth of everything they’ve ever told you. Even Jesus knows that pain. 

What about the mob here? Who’s in it? It’s chief priests, officers of the temple guard, and elders. The top religious leaders, the people who should be trustworthy. They’ve come out late at night on a holiday, trying to hide what they’re doing.

But Jesus doesn’t let them hide. He calls them out on it. “Am I leading a rebellion that you come at me with clubs and swords? I was with you every day in the temple courts and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour when darkness reigns.” Jesus uncovers their ugly behavior.

At first glance, this is a scary, hopeless scene. But let’s take a step back for a second and ask ourselves, who is the agent here, the one moving things forward? Who is speaking? Who is in charge? 

When Judas comes to kiss Jesus, Jesus confronts him, calling out his betrayal. In this story, Judas says nothing.

When the disciples are wildly swinging their swords, Jesus puts an end to it, ordering them to stop and healing the servant’s ear. 

When the mob approaches him with their weapons, Jesus speaks, calling out their cowardice and evil. You see, Jesus is the one who is in control in this scene.

He is speaking, he is commanding, he is confronting, he is healing. 

What does this tell us, then, about Jesus? That even in this dark situation, he’s in control.

What he says to the religious leaders reveals that there are limits on this evil night. He says, “This is your hour when darkness reigns.” Hour is not meant to be a literal 60 minutes, but to represent a short period of time.

Darkness would want to reign forever, but its time is limited. Darkness tries to hide the evil deeds of Judas and the leaders, but Jesus reveals it. Darkness tries to bring chaos, but Jesus calms it. 

Our key truth for today is that God restrains the darkness. 

The religious leaders thought they were in control. Satan thought he was winning, but Jesus reveals that their strength and time are limited. He will have the victory. 

And this is a truth that we see repeated in other parts of Scripture. In the book of Job, when Satan asks to test Job, God allows it but says, “And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life” (Job 2:6). God is the one giving the permission and setting the limits on what Satan is allowed to do. 

Or what about just before this story? Jesus reveals to Peter that Satan has asked to sift him like wheat. But Jesus says that he has prayed for Peter (Luke 22:32). Imagine Jesus praying for you and your restoration! 

And then throughout the book of Revelation, we see God putting limitations on evil, shortening time periods when things are allowed to happen, or protecting specific people.

This is the power of our God, that even when the enemy is at its strongest, carrying out its darkest plans, it does not have free reign. 

So what does that mean for this scene right here, and for what is to come? That Jesus’ death and resurrection was not Plan B. It wasn’t the result of God scrambling to figure out what to do now, when things took an unexpected turn. God is in control the whole time. 

And what then does that mean for our day to day? When we feel like situations are out of control, when we don’t know what’s happening, when we see the chaos around us, God is still in control. And we can rest in that even when things seem to be the darkest.

Today as you go, I want you to think about a situation that seems out of control to you. Maybe it’s in your own life. Maybe it’s in the life of someone that you love or care about. Maybe it’s what you read in the news and see going on in the world today. Ask God to help you see his power in it, his grace in it, his control in it.